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Notables: Every movie from last week dropped a spot to make room for Will Smith's new juggernaut. Can we all agree that Will Smith owns the first weekend in July? It all started with Independence Day. Remember that one? Back then we only knew him as the Fresh Prince. Now he can buy Bel-Air if he wants to. If you're curious about the theme or plotline of Hancock, the folks at ChristianityTodayMovies.com can help. They say it's the story of "a good-at-heart guy with super powers who tries to do good things but often leaves a messy trail of destruction in his wake." They even add that it possibly serves as a sort of apologetic for President Bush.

Top Five Books
1. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
2. New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
3. Someday Soon, by Debbie Macomber
4. The Shack, by William P. Young
5. Fast Track, by Fern Michaels

Notables: Stephenie Meyer has come roaring back to steal the top two spots of the bestseller list. I've been doing a little digging about this whole phenomenon. I’m looking to write a little something about it for the mother site. Though it’s written for teenagers and young adults, there's a lot in Meyer’s work to process. If anything, I’m curious about the series' central plotline of a vampire/teenage girl/werewolf love triangle. Who thinks up this sort of stuff? Well, Stephenie Meyer does. Actually, I learned that the whole idea of the book came to her in a dream. I wish my dreams were that profitable. Someday Soon holds on to the third spot, because everyone loves a love story. The Shack has moved up a spot. Time magazine recently ran a short review, calling it "a standard guy-meets-God melodrama, heavy on the heartstrings and full of torrid and often turgid dialogue." The article contains the funniest line I've seen yet about the book. Trust me: you'll know it when you read it. Christianity Today's Derek Keefe has put together a good little article about why The Shack is to be read as "a tale of tragedy redeemed" and "not a theological treatise." Finally, Fast Track is another book in the "Sisterhood" series. I'm not sure what the "Sisterhood" series is. When I Google it, I pick up that it's about a group of vigilante women who go on missions of revenge and the like. Someone drop me a line in the comments section if you know anything special about this one.

Top Five Albums
1. Tha Carter III, Lil' Wayne
2. Viva La Vida, Coldplay
3. Camp Rock, Camp Rock
4. T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight), G Unit
5. Where The Light Is: John Mayer Live In Los Angeles, John Mayer

Coldplay and Lil' Wayne switched places. It probably helps Lil' Wayne's cause to have Time magazine trumpeting his personal declaration that he is "The Best Rapper Alive." "Over four years," they write, "he morphed from a mediocre rapper with a thuggish point of view into a savant who merges sex, drugs, and politics with a sneaky intellect, a freakish knowledge of pop culture, and a voice out of the Delta." He's also not afraid to "sound weird" by intentionally breaking the rules of rap. And people love it. The lyrics probably won't be entirely edifying, but they may be worth a look. If he's as skilled at pop culture as Time says he is, he might be a good pop culture roundup in and of himself. As for Coldplay, check out this article about finding glimpses of God in their new lyrics. Terminate on Sight is a new album from the rap group G-Unit. Earlier titles of the album included Shoot to Kill and Lock & Load. Glad to see they settled for something much happier. Finally, John Mayer has put out yet another live album that's probably filled with the same songs he puts on all his live albums.

Top Five Digital Downloads
1. "I Kissed a Girl," by Katy Perry
2. "Burnin' Up," by Jonas Brothers
3. "7 Things," by Miley Cyrus
4. "Viva La Vida," by Coldplay
5. "When I Grow Up," by Pussycat Dolls

Notables: This is a mix of the old and the new. For those who read this column on a weekly basis, you're probably not surprised to see Katy Perry still holding the top spot. I've written a bit about her story before, but you really should take a minute to check out this short article about her journey from Christian alternative pop/rock artist to a singer who writes songs about…well…you probably know by now. One other song to mention in this list: Miley Cyrus's "7 Things." Thousands of girls will have this on their radio. Thousands of boys might, too—they just won't admit it. She starts the chorus by listing "the seven things I hate about you" (i.e. her ex-boyfriend). Ouch. But just when the pain is too much, she closes the song by singing, "And the seventh thing I hate the most that you do—you make me love you." Awwwww.

Top Five Web Searches (according to Google Trends)
*Exercise caution when searching; some topics may be inappropriate.
1. betty hutton
2. iv real
3. bangalore news
4. ashland
5. obama nuts

Notables: Betty Hutton (1921-2007) was an American film actress and singer. I’ve picked up that there was a recent biographical show about Hutton, so there’s probably a renewed interest in her acting and singing of years gone by. If you read the wiki entry I linked to above, you’ll find one of the sadder notes about her life: when Hutton died of cancer in 2007, “none of her three daughters attended the funeral.” Now, moving on to the most intriguing item in this batch: “iv real.” I did a little search on the item and found this article that’s making waves throughout the cyber-world. It seems what many have feared is fast becoming a reality: more and more people are purchasing games like Grand Theft Auto to do virtually what they have always wanted to do in real life—namely, kill. The author of the article writes: “I ran across an article online about how New Yorkers were taking out their real-life frustrations in the video game after the Sean Bell verdict. In 2006, Bell was shot 50 times by NYPD officers because they thought he was reaching for a gun outside of a night club. There was no gun, but rather a cell phone. Bell was black, so racial tensions flared up during the trial. And when a judge found the cops not guilty, some people rioted. Others participated in marches, wrote nasty letters to the police department or became bitter toward the NYPD. And some bought "GTA IV" and shot virtual bullets at virtual cops. ‘They just want to take their anger out,’ a video game store employee told Kotaku, a gaming blog. ‘People are upset right now.’" I would urge all of you reading this to do a little reflection on this matter. I think it’s of great importance in today’s culture. For another take on the matter, read this post from our sister site, Out of Ur. As for the rest on the list: Bangalore is the site of some scary communal tension over people defacing a mosque, Ashland may be in reference to the Ashland Stirrup Days Parade, which will center around Obama’s campaign for presidency, and you probably know what the last item is in reference to.

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